I currently subscribe to a well known wine magazine(WS), but am tired of it. There is just too much bs about places I'll never go and wines I can't afford. As I do love to read, and do love wine, I would like to find another magazine to subscribe to that would be more in line with my economic status. Normally, I spend $10-$15 for a bottle, not $20+. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks for the info. I expected to hear from WC about his publication. I left the door wide open for him. I was wondering about other possibilities. Foodie, there is no good newspaper in the podunk town in which I live. Once a year or so, we are "treated" to a reprint of an AP story on wine that usually involves white zin as "fine wine".

My weekly newspaper syndication (America's longest running wine column), Mead On Wine, is also available by subscription via snailmail, fax or e-mail. It's an unedited version of my weekly newspaper feature, but often with additional items and information and if you get the e-mail version you get it even before it's published in the newspapers, which gives you a jump on tracking down limited availability wines.

If you've never subscribed before, and mention The Wine Board, I'll comp you (and anyone else) a 3 mos trial subscription to the newsletter. I need your e-mail and postal address to complete this offer.

A couple of other newsletters I like are Connoisseurs' Guide to California Wine which is $55 per year. They will send out a free sample on request to: Connoisseurs' Guide, P.O. Boc "V" Alameda, CA 94501 (510) 865-3150; e-mail: cgcw@aol.com

Also California Grapevine...$35 per year and they'll send a single issue for $6 to: Grapevine, POBox 22152, San Diego, CA 92192 (858) 457-4818

Both newsletters review extensive numbers of wines in each issue and each has their own unique scoring system.

Well, I hate to put a damper on things, but as a longtime subscriber of usually well over a dozen wine publications at a time, I have to say that WS has been doing just about the best consumer-oriented job over the past few years. While they may write a lot about places you'll never see, and take a hoity-toity attitude about the "great" wines of the world, they do make a conscientious effort to cover value priced wines for everyday drinking in every issue. Not that they are the be-all and end-all, but I find that virtually all of the "wine geek" mags --such as The Wine Advocate, International Wine Cellar, Connoisseurs' Guide, Calfornia Grapevine, et al. -- are a lot weaker in the area that you want.

Then again, your area is tough. It's difficult for anyone to come up with something new, different, and exciting to read every month or so without veering off into odd parts of the world, or talking about wines few of us can afford.

So here's my suggestion: Don't narrow your wine advice finding to wine magazines per se. Some food magazines -- such as Food & Wine, Bon Appetit, and (my favorite) Saveur -- do a credible job of covering wine within the context of food (which is where it belongs anyway). You can also do what I often do, which is constantly stop at the magazine section of you local super-sized bookstore and quickly leaf through the wine magazine tables of contents to see if your kind of story is being covered in this issue or that. Why subscribe, when you're only interested in some of the issues?

Agree with Randy. I have the same problems with WS as Catch22, but keep my subscription because of the other good info in there such as value wines and food & wine pairing. Also get Wine & Spirits which covers a lot of the same turf, but is much less pretentious. I find that most of the food magazines give less and less attention to wine, and you can get more info on food and wine pairing in wine magazines. An excellent column on that subject by some guy named Randy appears in Wine Trader.

Randy and Innkeeper, are you listening? Catch 22 said he has subscribed to WS and no longer likes it, so why tell him it is good for him? He is the consumer speaking. Shouldn't the consumer explore and then read (and drink) what he/she likes?

Be consistent guys.

Having said that, however, the suggestions they give are good ones for you (Catch)to explore. You could subscribe to the NY Times online; Frank Prial writes one of the best wine columns. On the West Coast you can get a hold of Dan Berger's columns too.

I just got my copy of Wine Trader: a great mag for the consumer. And Randy's first article about wine and food mythology is spot on.

Golly gee, Foodie, you cut and flatter. My fear is that Catch 22 would be disappointed by the "heavy" wine mags, which really are not for the average consumer looking for everyday, low priced wines. I'm also continuously pleased by the quality of wine advice found in the food magazines; in which the doses are small, but usually quite useful!